Contents

Tel Tzova was the site of an ancient Jewish settlement in the days of King David according to 2 Samuel 23:36. According to some scholars it can be dated back even further to the time of Joshua Bin-Nun, based on Joshua 15:59 in the Septuagint.

Tel Tzuba

In 1170, a Crusader fortress, Belmont, was built there to guard the route to Jerusalem. Belmont was conquered by Saladin in 1191.

The adjacent Arab village of Suba was the scene of fierce fighting during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War due to its strategic location overlooking the road to Jerusalem; in late 1947 and early 1948, irregular forces of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood stationed in Suba repeatedly attacked Jewish traffic on the main highway from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The village was conquered by the Palmach during the night of July 12–13 as part of Operation Danny. Most of the inhabitants fled before the fighting and did not return.[2] Most moved to Kalandia or Amman, Jordan, although some moved only 1 km away to the nearby village of Ein Rafa – where they and their descendants live to this day as Israeli citizens.[3]

The kibbutz's main income comes from its glass factory: Oran Safety Glass (OSG), which produces laminated, tempered and bulletproof security glass,[5] it was reported that OSG has begun "manufacturing a bullet-resistant windshield with a touch screen embedded in it" and that the "screen is connected to the vehicle’s multimedia system, so it may be used to display maps, live feeds from the day or night vision cameras mounted on the vehicle, and other video options".[6]

There is also a hotel overlooking the Jerusalem Hills, a children's amusement park ("Kiftzuba"), orchards, vineyards, a winery and a chocolate workshop, the kibbutz also hosts a residential Hebrew language ulpan.[7] Other sources of income – located away from the kibbutz – are the dairy farm (located in kibbutz Tzora) and cotton fields, as the kibbutz is based on socialist principles, the salaries of kibbutz members who work independently in the city are automatically paid into the communal purse.

In 1999, a cave believed to have been the cave of John the Baptist was discovered by Reuven Kalifon during archaeological excavations in the area of the kibbutz orchards, not far from Ein Karem, St. John's traditional birthplace; in the 4th and 5th century CE, the cave was sanctified and used by Byzantine monks as a Christian holy place. On its walls are some of the earliest drawings known in local Christian art. Structures outside the cave date to the Hellenistic period (2nd century BCE) and indicate that the cave was used as both a water reservoir and a place for bathing. Water was collected from the valley and channeled into the cave via a water-filtering basin. A sluice allowed some of the water to be channeled from the filtering basin into the fields.

Archaeologists discovered a flight of 7 steps leading to an underground, man-made rectangular pool of water. Thousands of pottery shards, possibly the remnants of small water jugs used in the baptismal ritual, were found at the site. [8]

1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation

2.
Districts of Israel
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There are six main administrative districts of Israel, known in Hebrew as mehozot and Arabic as mintaqah and fifteen sub-districts known as nafot. Each sub-district is further divided into Cities, municipalities, and Regional councils it contains, the Judea and Samaria Area, however, is not included in the number of districts and sub-districts as Israel has not applied its civilian jurisdiction in that part of the West Bank. Population,1,358,600 District capital, Nazareth Safed – population,113,700 Kinneret – population,110,500 Yizreel – population,482,300 Akko – population,605,700 Golan – population,46,400. Population,966,700 District capital, Haifa Haifa – population,560,600 Hadera – population,406,000 Central District. Population,2,024,500 District capital, Ramla Sharon – population,446,500 Petah Tikva – population,685,000 Ramla – population,326,400 Rehovot – population,566,600 Tel Aviv District. Population,1,350,000 District capital, Tel Aviv Southern District, currently only the Coordination and Liaison Administration operates there. Jewish Population,407,118, Palestinian population, roughly 1.8 million, largest city, Modiin Illit The name Judea and Samaria for this geographical area is based on terminology from the Hebrew and other sources relating to ancient Israel and Judah/Judea. The territory has been under Israeli control since the 1967 Six-Day War but not annexed by Israel, in Jewish religious terms, it is part of the Land of Israel, which leads to politically contentious issues. However, it is not considered part of the State of Israel by the UN, urban Israel, Details and pictures about many cities in Israel

3.
Jerusalem District
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The Jerusalem District is one of six administrative districts of Israel. The Jerusalem District has an area of 652 km². The population of 910,300 is 67. 8% Jewish and 30. 6% Arab, a fifth of the Arabs in Israel live in the Jerusalem District, which includes both East and West Jerusalem. Israels annexation of East Jerusalem has not been recognized by the international community, the majority of Arabs in the Jerusalem District are Palestinians, eligible for citizenship under Israeli law, but non-citizens by collective choice. The non-Jewish population is 28. 3% Muslims,1. 8% Christians and 1. 4% unclassified by religion, the Jerusalem Municipality, including East Jerusalem and other annexed parts of the West Bank, constituted with 125 km² about 19% of the Jerusalem District in 2008. Jerusalem Governorate List of cities in Israel Arab localities in Israel Positions on Jerusalem Timeline of Jerusalem Elah Valley Judean Mountains

4.
Regional council (Israel)
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As of 2003, there were 53 regional councils, usually responsible for governing a number of settlements spread across rural areas. Regional councils include representation of anywhere between 3 and 54 communities, usually spread over a large area within geographical vicinity of each other. Each community within a regional council usually does not exceed 2000 in population and is managed by a local committee and this committee sends representatives to the administering regional council proportionate to their size of membership and according to an index which is fixed before each election. Those settlements without an administrative council do not send any representatives to the regional council, representatives from those settlements which are represented directly are either chosen directly or through an election. The predominant form of communities represented on regional councils are kibbutzim and moshavim, the following sortable table lists all 53 regional councils by name, and the district or area according to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. The list includes the regional councils in the Golan Heights and the West Bank, areas considered occupied territories under international law, city council Local council List of Israeli cities Local Government in Israel

5.
Mateh Yehuda Regional Council
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Mateh Yehuda Regional Council is a regional council in the Jerusalem District of Israel. In 2008 it was home to 36,200 people, the name of the regional council stems from the fact that its territory was part of the land allotted to the Tribe of Judah, according to the Bible. The settlements vary greatly in their character, there are religious, secular and mixed Jewish communities, two Arab communities, and the only mixed Arab-Jewish village in Israel - Neve Shalom. Many of the Jewish communities in the Mateh Yehuda district were established by immigrants from India, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, other attractions include natural phenomenon as Avshalom stalactites cave and natural water springs. Mate Yehuda is also home to goat cheese farms, over 30 wineries,11 breweries and dozens of artists. C. in the Partnership 2gether program of the Jewish Agency for Israel

6.
Suba, Jerusalem
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Suba was a Palestinian Arab village west of Jerusalem that was depopulated and destroyed in 1948. The site of the lies on the summit of a conical hill called Tel Tzova, or Jabal Suba, rising 769 metres above sea level. Belmont castle was excavated by archaeologists in 1986-9, middle Bronze Age cairn-tombs have been excavated in the neighborhood of the ruined Arab village, though the site itself has not yielded artifacts from before the late Iron Age. The place can perhaps be identified with Σωρης mentioned in the Greek version of Josh, there has also been a tentative identification with the Tzova in 1 Samuel 14,47 and 2 Samuel 23,36. In the later Roman period, the site was mentioned in sources as Seboim. Until the mid-19th century, Christian pilgrims mistakenly identified the site with Modiin, excavations on a plastered cave on the grounds of Kibbutz Tzova identified as the Cave of John the Baptist began in March 2000. It has been suggested that Suba was Subahiet, one of 21 villages given by King Godfrey as a fief to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in 1114, the gift was re-confirmed by Baldwin I of Jerusalem. A Brother William of Belmont was mentioned in Crusader sources in the years 1157 and 1162, sometime before 1169, the Crusaders built a castle there called Belmont, run by the Hospitallers. In 1170 an unnamed castellan was mentioned, today, parts of the northern and western Crusader wall remain, as well as ruins of a tower and other structures. These include large underground cisterns, some pre-dating the Crusader period, Belmont Castle was taken by Saladin in 1187. According to the chronicles it was destroyed by him in 1191, settlement at the site continued, and it was mentioned as Suba, a village of Jerusalem, about 1225 by Yakut. Suba, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, the village economy relied on wheat, barley, olives and grapes. In the mid-nineteenth century, the village was controlled by the Abu Ghosh family, the Crusader walls and the fortifications they built in the village were destroyed by Ibrahim Pasha in 1834. The French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village on 30 April 1863, an Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Suba had 33 houses and a population of 112, though the population count included only men. In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Suba had a population 307, all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 434 Muslims, in 110 houses. In 1945 the population of Suba was 620, all Muslims,1,435 dunams were plantations and irrigable land,712 for cereals, while 16 dunams were built-up land. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the village saw fierce fighting, the village was attacked several times by the Haganah, and finally conquered by the Palmach during the night of July 12–13 as part of Operation Danny. Most of the inhabitants had fled during the fighting, and those who remained were expelled, in October 1948, the Ameilim group of Palmach veterans established a kibbutz called Misgav Palmach on village lands 1 km to the south

7.
Hebrew language
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Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it

8.
Kibbutz
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A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania, today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism, in recent decades, some kibbutzim have been privatized and changes have been made in the communal lifestyle. A member of a kibbutz is called a kibbutznik, in 2010, there were 270 kibbutzim in Israel. Their factories and farms account for 9% of Israels industrial output, worth US$8 billion, some Kibbutzim had also developed substantial high-tech and military industries. For example, in 2010, Kibbutz Sasa, containing some 200 members, the kibbutzim were founded by members of the Bilu movement who emigrated to Palestine. The first kibbutz was Degania Alef, founded in 1909, joseph Baratz, one of the pioneers of the kibbutz movement, wrote a book about his experiences. We were happy enough working on the land, but we knew more and more certainly that the ways of the old settlements were not for us. This was not the way we hoped to settle the old way with Jews on top and Arabs working for them, anyway, we thought that there shouldnt be employers. There must be a better way, though Baratz and others wanted to farm the land themselves, becoming independent farmers was not a realistic option in 1909. Ottoman Palestine was a harsh environment, the Galilee was swampy, the Judaean Mountains rocky, and the south of the country, the Negev, was a desert. To make things more challenging, most of the settlers had no farming experience. The sanitary conditions were also poor, malaria, typhus and cholera were rampant. Bedouins would raid farms and settled areas, sabotage of irrigation canals and burning of crops were also common. Living collectively was simply the most logical way to be secure in an unwelcoming land, finally, the land had been purchased by the greater Jewish community. From around the world, Jews dropped coins into Jewish National Fund Blue Boxes for land purchases in Palestine, in 1909, Baratz, nine other men, and two women established themselves at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee near the Arab village of Umm Juni/Juniya. These teenagers had hitherto worked as day laborers converting wetlands for human development, as masons and their dream was now to work for themselves, building up the land. They called their community Kvutzat Degania, now Degania Alef, the founders of Degania endured backbreaking labor, The body is crushed, the legs fail, the head hurts, the sun burns and weakens, wrote one of the pioneers

9.
Israel
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Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The country contains geographically diverse features within its small area. Israels economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, next year, the Jewish Agency declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and it extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is the worlds longest military occupation in modern times, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed, the population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2017 to be 8,671,100 people. It is the worlds only Jewish-majority state, with 74. 8% being designated as Jewish, the countrys second largest group of citizens are Arabs, at 20. 8%. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins, other minorities include Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Black Hebrew Israelites, Circassians, Maronites and Samaritans. Israel also hosts a significant population of foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, including illegal migrants from Sudan, Eritrea. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish, Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature, Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2016. The country benefits from a skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, in the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term Israeli to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett. The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The name Israel in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, jacobs twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. The earliest known artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt. The area is known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam

10.
Judaean Mountains
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The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills, is a mountain range in Israel and the West Bank where Jerusalem and several other biblical cities are located. The mountains reach a height of 1,026 metres, the Judean Mountains can be separated to a number of sub-regions, including the Mount Hebron ridge, the Jerusalem ridge and the Judean slopes. These mountains formed the heartland of the Kingdom of Judah, where the earliest Jewish settlements emerged, the range runs in a north south direction from Galilee to the Negev with an average height of 900 metres. The Judaean mountains encompass Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah, the range forms a natural division between the Shephelah coastal plains to the west and the Jordan Rift Valley to the east. The northern section, in the Ramallah area, is known as Samarian Hills. The Judaean Mountains were heavily forested in antiquity, the range is mostly composed of terra rossa soils over hard limestones. The Judaean Mountains are the expression of a series of monoclinic folds which trend north-northwest through Israel. The folding is the expression of the Syrian Arc belt of anticlinal folding that began in the Late Cretaceous Period in northeast Africa. The Syrian Arc extends east-northeast across the Sinai, turns north-northeast through Israel, the Israeli segment parallels the Dead Sea Transform which lies just to the east. In prehistoric times, animals no longer found in the Levant region were found here, including elephants, rhinoceri, giraffes, in ancient times the Judean mountains were the allotment of the Tribe of Judah and the heartland of the former Kingdom of Judah. An Israel Railways line runs from Beit Shemesh along the Brook of Sorek, media related to Judaean Mountains at Wikimedia Commons Pictures Judaean Mountains & Jerusalem Symbolism and Landscape, The Etzion Bloc in the Judaean Mountains, Yossi Katz and John C

11.
Jerusalem
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Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is considered a city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, the part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent, today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger, Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old Citys boundaries. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, the sobriquet of holy city was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Septuagint which Christians adopted as their own authority, was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesuss crucifixion there, in Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. As a result, despite having an area of only 0, outside the Old City stands the Garden Tomb. Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the captured and later annexed by Israel while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into Jerusalem, one of Israels Basic Laws, the 1980 Jerusalem Law, refers to Jerusalem as the countrys undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset, the residences of the Prime Minister and President, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies. Jerusalem is also home to some non-governmental Israeli institutions of importance, such as the Hebrew University. In 2011, Jerusalem had a population of 801,000, of which Jews comprised 497,000, Muslims 281,000, a city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt is widely, but not universally, identified as Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called Urušalim in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba, the name Jerusalem is variously etymologized to mean foundation of the god Shalem, the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city. The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim first appears in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua, according to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yireh and the town Shalem. The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states, I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem, or as other scholars suggest, the mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem

12.
David
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David was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah, reigning in c. He is described as a man after Gods own heart in 1 Samuel 13,14 and Acts 13,22. The Hebrew prophets regarded him as the ancestor of the future messiah, the New Testament says he was an ancestor of Jesus. God is angered when Saul, Israels king, unlawfully offers a sacrifice and later disobeys a divine instruction to not only all of the Amalekites. Consequently, he sends the prophet Samuel to anoint David, the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem, God sends an evil spirit to torment Saul. Sauls courtiers recommend that he send for David, a man skillful on the lyre, wise in speech, and brave in battle. So David enters Sauls service as one of the royal armour-bearers, and plays the lyre to soothe the king, war comes between Israel and the Philistines, and the giant Goliath challenges the Israelites to send out a champion to face him in single combat. David, sent by his father to bring provisions to his brothers serving in Sauls army, refusing the kings offer of the royal armour, he kills Goliath with his sling. Saul inquires the name of the heros father. Saul sets David over his army, all Israel loves David, but his popularity causes Saul to fear him. Saul plots his death, but Sauls son Jonathan, one of those who loves David, warns him of his fathers schemes and David flees. He becomes a vassal of the Philistine king Achish of Gath, but Achishs nobles question his loyalty, Jonathan and Saul are killed, and David is anointed king over Judah. In the north, Sauls son Ish-Bosheth is anointed king of Israel, with the death of Sauls son, the elders of Israel come to Hebron and David is anointed king over all Israel. He conquers Jerusalem, previously a Jebusite stronghold, and makes it his capital. He brings the Ark of the Covenant to the city, intending to build a temple for God, Nathan also prophesies that God has made a covenant with the house of David, Your throne shall be established forever. David wins more victories over the Philistines, while the Moabites, Edomites, Amalekites, Ammonites, during a battle to conquer the Ammonite capital of Rabbah, David seduces Bathsheba and causes the death of her husband Uriah the Hittite. In response, Nathan prophesies the punishment that shall fall upon him, in fulfillment of these words Davids son Absalom rebels. The rebellion ends at the battle of the Wood of Ephraim, Absaloms forces are routed, and Absalom is caught by his long hair in the branches of a tree, and killed by Joab, contrary to Davids order. Joab was the commander of Davids army, David laments the death of his favourite son, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom

13.
Samuel
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Samuel, is a leader of ancient Israel in the Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. He is also known as a prophet by Christians and Muslims and his status, as viewed by rabbinical literature, is that he was the last of the Hebrew Judges and the first of the major prophets who began to prophesy inside the Land of Israel. He was thus on the cusp of two eras, according to the text of the Books of Samuel, he also anointed the first two kings of the Kingdom of Israel, Saul and David. Samuels mother was Hannah and his father was Elkanah, Elkanah lived at Ramathaim in the district of Zuph. His genealogy is found in a pedigree of the Kohathites and in that of Heman. According to the tables in Chronicles, Elkanah was a Levite - a fact not mentioned in the books of Samuel. The fact that Elkanah, a Levite, was denominated an Ephraimite is analogous to the designation of a Levite belonging to Judah, according to 1 Samuel 1, 1-28, Elkanah had two wives, Peninnah and Hannah. Peninnah had children, Hannah did not, jealous, Penninah reproached Hannah for her lack of children, causing Hannah much heartache. The relationship of Penninah and Hannah recalls that between Hagar and Sarah, Elkanah was a devout man and would periodically take his family on pilgrimage to the holy site of Shiloh. The motif of Elkanah and Hannah as devout, childless parents will reoccur with Zachariah and Elizabeth and the birth of John the Baptist, and with Joachim and Anna, on one occasion Hannah went to the sanctuary and prayed for a child. In tears, she vowed that were she granted a child, Eli, who was sitting at the foot of the doorpost in the sanctuary at Shiloh, saw her apparently mumbling to herself and thought she was drunk, but was soon assured of her motivation and sobriety. Eli was the priest of Shiloh, and one of the last Israelite Judges before the rule of kings in ancient Israel and he had assumed the leadership after Samsons death. Eli blessed her and she returned home, subsequently Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to Samuel. Hannahs exultant hymn of thanksgiving resembles in several points Marys later Magnificat, after the child was weaned, she left him in Elis care, and from time to time she would come to visit her son. According to 1 Samuel 1,20, Hannah named Samuel to commemorate her prayer to God for a child, called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord. The Hebrew root rendered as asked in the KJV is sha’al, once it is even mentioned in the form sha’ul, Saul’s name in Hebrew. Biblical historian Michael Coogan suggests that Saul’s birth narrative was transferred to Samuel by the Deuteronomist historians, however, Gordon himself did not see this hypothesis as justified by the available evidence. According to the Holman Bible Dictionary, Samuel was a name in the Ancient Near East meaning, Sumu is God but understood in Israel as The name is God, God is exalted

14.
Joshua
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Joshua /ˈdʒɒʃuə/ or Jehoshua is the central figure in the Hebrew Bibles Book of Joshua. According to the books of Exodus, Numbers and Joshua, he was Moses assistant and his name was Hoshea the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, but Moses called him Yehoshua the name by which he is commonly known. The name is shortened to Yeshua in Nehemiah, according to the Bible he was born in Egypt prior to the Exodus. According to the Hebrew Bible, Joshua was one of the spies of Israel sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan. In Numbers 13, 1–16, and after the death of Moses, he led the Israelite tribes in the conquest of Canaan, according to Biblical chronology, Joshua lived between 1355 and 1245 BCE, or sometime in the late Bronze Age. According to Joshua 24,29, Joshua died at the age of 110, Joshua also holds a position of respect among Muslims. According to Islamic tradition, he was, along with Caleb, all Muslims also see Joshua as the leader of the Israelites, following the death of Moses. Some Muslims also believe Joshua to be the attendant of Moses mentioned in the Qurān, before Moses meets Khidr, the English name Joshua is a rendering of the Hebrew language Yehoshua, meaning Yahweh is salvation. The vocalization of the second name component may be read as Hoshea—the name used in the Torah before Moses added the divine name, Jesus is the English of the Greek transliteration of Yehoshua via Latin. In the Septuagint, all instances of the word Yehoshua are rendered as Ἰησοῦς, thus, in Greek, Joshua is called Jesus son of Naue to differentiate him from Jesus Christ. This is also true in the Slavic languages following the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Joshua was a major figure in the events of the Exodus. He was charged by Moses with selecting and commanding a group for their first battle after exiting Egypt, against the Amalekites in Rephidim. He later accompanied Moses when he ascended biblical Mount Sinai to commune with God, visualize Gods plan for the Israelite tabernacle and receive the Ten Commandments. Joshua was with Moses when he descended from the mountain, heard the Israelites celebrations around the Golden Calf, and broke the tablets bearing the words of the commandments. However, when Moses returned to the mountain to re-create the tablets recording the Ten Commandments, Joshua was not present, according to Joshua 1, 1-9, God appointed Joshua to succeed Moses as leader of the Israelites along with giving him a blessing of invincibility during his lifetime. The first part of the book of Joshua covers the period when he led the conquest of Canaan, at the Jordan River, the waters parted, as they had for Moses at the Red Sea. The first battle after the crossing of the Jordan was the Battle of Jericho, Joshua led the destruction of Jericho, then moved on to Ai, a small neighboring city to the west. However, they were defeated with thirty-six Israelite deaths, the defeat was attributed to Achan taking an accursed thing from Jericho, and was followed by Achan and his family and animals being stoned to death to restore Gods favor

15.
Septuagint
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The Septuagint is a Koine Greek translation of an Hebraic textual tradition that included certain texts which were later included in the canonical Hebrew Bible and other related texts which were not. As the primary Greek translation of the Old Testament, it is called the Greek Old Testament. This translation is quoted a number of times in the New Testament, particularly in Pauline epistles, the title and its Roman numeral LXX refer to the legendary seventy Jewish scholars who solely translated the Five Books of Moses into Koine Greek as early as the 3rd century BCE. Separated from the Hebrew canon of the Jewish Bible in Rabbinic Judaism, the traditional story is that Ptolemy II sponsored the translation of the Torah. The Septuagint should not be confused with the seven or more other Greek versions of the Old Testament, of these, the most important are those by Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion. However, it was not until the time of Augustine of Hippo that the Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures came to be called by the Latin term Septuaginta. This narrative is found in the pseudepigraphic Letter of Aristeas to his brother Philocrates, the story is also found in the Tractate Megillah of the Babylonian Talmud, King Ptolemy once gathered 72 Elders. He placed them in 72 chambers, each of them in a separate one and he entered each ones room and said, Write for me the Torah of Moshe, your teacher. God put it in the heart of one to translate identically as all the others did. Philo of Alexandria, who relied extensively on the Septuagint, says that the number of scholars was chosen by selecting six scholars from each of the tribes of Israel. After the Torah, other books were translated over the two to three centuries. It is not altogether clear which was translated when, or where, some may even have been translated twice, into different versions, the quality and style of the different translators also varied considerably from book to book, from the literal to paraphrasing to interpretative. The translation of the Septuagint itself began in the 3rd century BCE and was completed by 132 BCE, initially in Alexandria, the Septuagint is the basis for the Old Latin, Slavonic, Syriac, Old Armenian, Old Georgian and Coptic versions of the Christian Old Testament. Some sections of the Septuagint may show Semiticisms, or idioms and phrases based on Semitic languages like Hebrew, other books, such as Daniel and Proverbs, show Greek influence more strongly. The Septuagint may also elucidate pronunciation of pre-Masoretic Hebrew, many nouns are spelled out with Greek vowels in the LXX. However, it is unlikely that all ancient Hebrew sounds had precise Greek equivalents. As the work of translation progressed, the canon of the Greek Bible expanded, the Torah always maintained its pre-eminence as the basis of the canon, but the collection of prophetic writings, based on the Jewish Neviim, had various hagiographical works incorporated into it. In addition, some books were included in the Septuagint

16.
Saladin
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An-Nasir Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, known as Saladin, was the first sultan of Egypt and Syria and the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin led the Muslim military campaign against the Crusader states in the Levant, at the height of his power, his sultanate included Egypt, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, the Hejaz, Yemen and other parts of North Africa. When Saladins uncle Shirkuh died in 1169, al-Adid appointed Saladin vizier, in the following years, he led forays against the Crusaders in Palestine, commissioned the successful conquest of Yemen, and staved off pro-Fatimid rebellions in Upper Egypt. Not long after Nur ad-Dins death in 1174, Saladin launched his conquest of Syria, by mid-1175, Saladin had conquered Hama and Homs, inviting the animosity of his former Zengid lords, who had been the official rulers of Syria. Soon after, he defeated the Zengid army at the Battle of the Horns of Hama and was proclaimed the Sultan of Egypt. Saladin made further conquests in northern Syria and Jazira, escaping two attempts on his life by the Assassins, before returning to Egypt in 1177 to address issues there. By 1182, Saladin completed the conquest of Muslim Syria after capturing Aleppo, although the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem continued to exist until the late 13th century, its defeat at Hattin marked a turning point in its conflict with the Muslim powers of the region. Saladin died in Damascus in 1193, having given away much of his wealth to his subjects. He is buried in an adjacent to the Umayyad Mosque. Saladin has become a prominent figure in Muslim, Arab, Turkish and Kurdish culture, Saladin was born in Tikrit in modern-day Iraq. His personal name was Yusuf, Salah ad-Din is a laqab and his family was of Kurdish ancestry, and had originated from the city of Dvin in medieval Armenia. The Rawadid tribe he hailed from had been assimilated into the Arabic-speaking world by this time. Ayyub provided ferries for the army and gave refuge in Tikrit. According to Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad, Saladin was born on the night his family left Tikrit. In 1139, Ayyub and his moved to Mosul, where Imad ad-Din Zengi acknowledged his debt. After the death of Zengi in 1146, his son, Nur ad-Din, became the regent of Aleppo, Saladin, who now lived in Damascus, was reported to have a particular fondness for the city, but information on his early childhood is scarce. About education, Saladin wrote children are brought up in the way in which their elders were brought up, several sources claim that during his studies he was more interested in religion than joining the military. Another factor which may have affected his interest in religion was that, during the First Crusade, in addition to Islam, Saladin had a knowledge of the genealogies, biographies, and histories of the Arabs, as well as the bloodlines of Arabian horses

17.
Muslim Brotherhood
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The Society of the Muslim Brothers, shortened to the Muslim Brotherhood, is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. The Brotherhoods stated goal is to instill the Quran and the Sunnah as the reference point for. Ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community, as a Pan-Islamic, religious, and social movement, it preached Islam, taught the illiterate, and set up hospitals and business enterprises. The Arab Spring brought it legalization and substantial power at first. The Brotherhood itself claims it is a peaceful, democratic organization, according to a spokesman, the Muslim Brotherhood believe in reform, democracy, freedom of assembly, press, etc. We believe that the reform is the true and natural gateway for all other kinds of reform. We have announced our acceptance of democracy that acknowledges political pluralism, the rotation of power. Its founder, Hassan Al-Banna, was influenced by Islamic modernist reformers Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida, with the group structure and it downplayed doctrinal differences between schools emphasizing the political importance of worldwide unity of the Muslim Nation. Al-Banna believed the Quran and Sunnah constitute a perfect way of life, Islamic governments must be based on this system and eventually unified in a Caliphate. The Brotherhood preaches that Islam will bring justice, the eradication of poverty, corruption and sinful behavior. On the issue of women and gender the Muslim Brotherhood interprets Islam conservatively, there have been breakaway groups from the movement, including the Al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya and Al Takfir Wal Hijra. Prominent figures of the Brotherhood include Sayyid Qutb, an influential and anti-Semitic thinker of Islamic supremacism. Osama bin Laden criticized the Brotherhood, and accused it of betraying jihad, the Brotherhoods most frequently used slogan is Islam is the Solution. Another well known slogan is God is our objective, dying in the way of God is our highest hope. On the Brotherhoods green logo is emblazoned وَأَعِدُّواْ - taken from sūrat l-anfāl, according to academic Khalil Yusuf its motto was traditionally Believers are but Brothers. The Muslim Brotherhood position on political participation varied according to the situation of each branch. For many years its stance was collaborationist in Kuwait and Jordan, for pacific opposition in Egypt, armed opposition in Libya, (A book on the document was published under the name, La conquête de lOccident, Le projet secret des Islamistes by Sylvain Besson. These parties are staffed by Brotherhood members but they are independent from the Muslim Brotherhood to some degree

18.
Tel Aviv
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Tel Aviv-Yafo is a major city in Israel, located on the countrys Mediterranean coastline. It is the center and the technology hub of Israel, with a population of 432,892. Tel Aviv is the largest city in the Gush Dan region of Israel, Tel Aviv is also a focal point in the high-tech concentration known as the Silicon Wadi. Tel Aviv is governed by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, headed by Ron Huldai, Tel Aviv is a global city, and is the thirty eighth most important financial center in the world. Tel Aviv is known to have the third-largest economy of any city in the Middle East after Abu Dhabi and Kuwait City, the city receives over a million international visitors annually. Known as The City that Never Sleeps and a party capital, it has a lively nightlife, the city was founded in 1909 by Jewish immigrants on the outskirts of the ancient port city of Jaffa. It is named after the Hebrew translation of Theodor Herzls 1902 novel, Altneuland, the modern citys first neighbourhoods had already been established in 1886, the first being Neve Tzedek. Immigration by mostly Jewish refugees meant that the growth of Tel Aviv soon outpaced Jaffas, Tel Aviv and Jaffa were merged into a single municipality in 1950, two years after the establishment of the State of Israel. Tel Avivs White City, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, Tel Aviv is the Hebrew title of Theodor Herzls Altneuland, translated from German by Nahum Sokolow. The name was chosen in 1910 from several suggestions, including Herzliya and it was found fitting as it embraced the idea of a renaissance in the ancient Jewish homeland. Aviv is Hebrew for spring, symbolizing renewal, and tel is a man-made mound accumulating layers of civilization built one over the other and symbolizing the ancient. Although founded in 1909 as a settlement on the sand dunes North of Jaffa. The marketing pamphlets advocating for its establishment in 1906, wrote, In this city we will build the streets so they have roads and sidewalks and electric lights. Every house will have water wells that will flow through pipes as in every modern European city. Since 1886, Jewish settlers had founded new neighborhoods outside Jaffa on the current territory of Tel Aviv, the first was Neve Tzedek, built on lands owned by Aharon Chelouche and inhabited primarily by Mizrahi Jews. Other neighborhoods were Neve Shalom, Yafa Nof, Achva, Ohel Moshe, Kerem HaTeimanim, once Tel Aviv received city status in the 1920s, those neighborhoods joined the newly formed municipality, now becoming separated from Jaffa. The Second Aliyah led to further expansion, in 1906, a group of Jews, among them residents of Jaffa, followed the initiative of Akiva Aryeh Weiss and banded together to form the Ahuzat Bayit society. The societys goal was to form a Hebrew urban centre in an environment, planned according to the rules of aesthetics

19.
Palmach
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The Palmach was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmach was established on 15 May 1941, by the outbreak of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War it consisted of over 2,000 men and women in three fighting brigades and auxiliary aerial, naval and intelligence units. With the creation of Israels army, the three Palmach Brigades were disbanded and this and political reasons compelled many of the senior Palmach officers to resign in 1950. The Palmach contributed significantly to Israeli culture and ethos, well beyond its military contribution and its members formed the backbone of the Israel Defense Forces high command for many years, and were prominent in Israeli politics, literature and culture. The Palmach was established by the Haganah High Command on 14 May 1941 and its aim was to defend the Palestinian Jewish community against two potential threats. Firstly the occupation of Palestine by the Axis in the event of their victory over the British in North Africa, secondly, if the British army were to retreat from Palestine, Jewish settlements might come under attack from the Arab population. Yitzhak Sadeh was named as Palmach commander, initially the group consisted of around one hundred men. In the early summer of 1941 the British military authorities agreed to joint operations against Vichy French forces in Lebanon, the first action was a sabotage mission against oil installations at Tripoli, Lebanon. Twenty-three Palmach members and a British liaison officer set out by sea but were never heard of again, on 8 June mixed squads of Palmach and Australians began operating in Lebanon and Syria. The success of operations led the British GHQ to fund a sabotage training camp for three hundred men at Mishmar HaEmek. Since the Palmach consisted of volunteers, the funding was used to cover the needs of twice that number of men. When the British ordered the dismantling of Palmach after the Allied victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein in 1942, the organization went underground. Since British funding had stopped, Yitzhak Tabenkin, head of the kibbutz union HaKibbutz HaMeuhad, each kibbutz would host a Palmach platoon and supply them with food, homes and resources. In return the platoon would safeguard the kibbutz and carry out such as agricultural work. The proposal was accepted in August 1942, when it was decided that each month Palmach members would have eight training days,14 work days. The program of combined training, agricultural work and Zionist education was called Hachshara Meguyeset הכשרה מגויסת. Later, Zionist youth movements offered members aged of 18–20 an opportunity to join groups for agricultural settlement that became the basis for the Nahal. Basic training included physical fitness, small arms, mêlée and KAPAP, basic training, topography, first aid

20.
Operation Danny
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Operation Danny was an Israeli military offensive launched at the end of the first truce of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The objectives were to capture territory east of Tel Aviv and then to inland and relieve the Jewish population. The main forces fighting against the IDF were the Arab Legion and Palestinian irregulars It took place on July 9–19,1948, on 10 July, Glubb Pasha ordered the defending Arab Legion troops to make arrangements. for a phony war. The operation commander was Yigal Allon and his deputy was Yitzhak Rabin, the total force numbered around 6,000 soldiers. The operation was named after Palmach officer Daniel Dani Mass, who had fallen on January 16,1948 while commanding a relief action known as Convoy of 35. The first phase of Operation Dani was to capture the cities of Lydda and Ramle, located on the road to Jerusalem, Ramle was one of the main obstacles blocking Jewish transportation. From the start of the war, Lydda and Ramle militiamen had attacked Jewish traffic on nearby roads, Ramle became a focal point for blocking Jewish transportation, forcing traffic from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv to a southern bypass. The second phase was to capture the fort at Latrun and break through Ramallah, the operation was carried out under Palmach command using the Yiftach Brigade, the Harel Brigade, the 8th Armored Brigade and two battalions from the Kiryati and Alexandroni brigades. On 9 July units from the Yiftach Brigade began approaching Ramle from the south, at the same time troops from the other brigades began attacking villages north of Lydda. Caught in a movement and with only a token Arab Legion presence the two towns were captured the following day. This put Lydda airport and the railway station at Ramle in Israeli hands. Two days after the capture of Lydda and Ramle only a few hundred of the 50,000 to 70,000 residents remained in the two towns. The second phase of the operation failed after several attacks on Arab Legion positions at Latrun. The Palmach record the names of ninety-one of its members killed during this Operation, forty-four were killed at Khirbet Kurikur on 18 July 1948. Seven were killed in the capture of Lydda

21.
Kalandia
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Kalandia, also Qalandiya, is a Palestinian village located in the West Bank, between Jerusalem and Ramallah, just west from the Jerusalem municipality boundary. In 2006,1,154 people were living in the according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Kalandia is also the name of a camp, established by UNRWA in 1949. It is located just east from Jerusalem municipality, Kalandia refugee camp was built for Palestinians refugees from Lydda, Ramle and Jerusalem of the 1948 Palestinian exodus. Ancient tombs have found at Kalandia. A Byzantine bath has been excavated, and pottery from the period has also been located there. During the Crusader period, it was noted that Kalandia was one of 21 villages given by King Godfrey as a fief to the canons of the Holy Sepulchre. In 1151 the Abbot leased the use of the vineyards and orchards of Kalandia to a Nemes the Syrian and his brother Anthony, in return the convent was given a part of the yearly production from these fields. In 1152 Queen Melisende exchanged villagers whom she owned for shops, all the names of the Kalandia villagers were Christian, which indicate that Kalandia was a Christian village at the time. The village had a population of 15 households, all Muslim, in 1883, the Palestine Exploration Funds Survey of Western Palestine described the village as a small village on a swell, surrounded by olives, with quarries to the west. In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Qalandieh had a population of 144 and this had decreased in the 1931 census when Qalandiya had an all-Muslim population of 120, in 25 houses. In a survey in 1945, Kalandia had a population of 190 Arabs,427 dunams were designated for plantations and irrigable land,2,202 for cereals, while six dunams were built-up. Until 1930, Kalandia was the airport in Mandatory Palestine. Kalandia was used for prominent guests bound for Jerusalem and it opened for regular flights in 1936. After the Six-Day War, it was renamed Atarot Airport by Israel, the Qalandia refugee camp was established in 1949 by the Red Cross on land leased from Jordan. It covers 353 dunums as of 2006 and has a population of 10,024 with 935 structures divided into 8 blocks, Israeli authorities consider it part of Greater Jerusalem, and it remains under their control. Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Kalandia has been under Israeli occupation, Kalandia is the main checkpoint between the northern West Bank and Jerusalem. The checkpoint is used by the Israeli military to control Palestinian access to East Jerusalem, Israel requires Palestinians to have permits to pass through the checkpoint to East Jerusalem and Israel for their work, medical care, education or for religious reasons

22.
Amman
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Amman is the capital and most populous city of Jordan, and the countrys economic, political and cultural centre. Situated in north-central Jordan, Amman is the centre of the Amman Governorate. The city has a population of 4,007,526, today, Amman is considered to be among the most liberal and westernized Arab cities. It is a major tourist destination in the region, particularly among Arab, the earliest evidence of settlement in the area is a Neolithic site known as Ain Ghazal. Its successor was known as Rabbath Ammon, which was the capital of the Ammonites, then as Philadelphia and it was initially built on seven hills but now spans over 19 hills combining 27 districts, which are administered by the Greater Amman Municipality headed by its mayor Aqel Biltaji. Areas of Amman have either gained their names from the hills or valleys they lie on, such as Jabal Lweibdeh, East Amman is predominantly filled with historic sites that frequently host cultural activities, while West Amman is more modern and serves as the economic center of the city. Approximately 2 million visitors arrived in Amman in 2014, which ranked it as the 93rd most visited city in the world, Amman has a relatively fast growing economy, and it is ranked Beta− on the global city index. Moreover, it was named one of the Middle East and North Africas best cities according to economic, labor, environmental, the city is among the most popular locations in the Arab world for multinational corporations to set up their regional offices, alongside Doha and only behind Dubai. It is expected that in the next 10 years these three cities will capture the largest share of multinational corporation activity in the region. Amman derives its name from the 13th century BC when the Ammonites named it Rabbath Ammon, over time, the term Rabbath was no longer used and the city became known as Ammon. The influence of new civilizations that conquered the city changed its name to Amman. In the Hebrew Bible, it is referred to as Rabbat ʿAmmon, however, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the Macedonian ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom who reigned from 283 to 246 BC, renamed the city to Philadelphia after occupying it. The name was given as an adulation to his own nickname, in the outskirts of Amman, one of the largest known ancient settlements in the Near East was discovered. The site, known as Ain Ghazal which is situated on a valley-side, dates back to 7250 BC and it was a typical average sized aceramic Neolithic village that accommodated around 3,000 inhabitants. Its houses were rectangular mud-bricked buildings that included a main square living room, the site was discovered in 1974 as construction workers were working on a road crossing the area. By 1982 when the excavations started, around 600 meters of road ran through the site, despite the damage brought by urban expansion, the remains of Ain Ghazal provided a wealth of information. These statues are human figures made with white plaster, the figures have painted clothes, hair, and in some cases ornamental tattoos. Thirty-two figures were found in two caches, fifteen of them full figures, fifteen busts, and two fragmentary heads, three of the busts were two-headed, the significance of which is not clear

23.
Jordan
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Jordan, officially The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab kingdom in Western Asia, on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Jordan is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the east and south, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north, Israel, Palestine and the Dead Sea to the west, Jordan is strategically located at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe. The capital, Amman, is Jordans most populous city as well as the countrys economic, what is now Jordan has been inhabited by humans since the Paleolithic period. Three stable kingdoms emerged there at the end of the Bronze Age, Ammon, Moab, later rulers include the Nabataean Kingdom, the Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. After the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottomans in 1916 during World War I, the Emirate of Transjordan was established in 1921 by the then Emir Abdullah I and became a British protectorate. In 1946, Jordan became an independent state known as The Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. Jordan captured the West Bank, which it later lost in 1967, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Jordan is a founding member of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and is one of two Arab states to have signed a peace treaty with Israel. The country is a monarchy, but the king holds wide executive and legislative powers. Jordan is a relatively-small, semi-arid, almost-landlocked country with a population numbering at 9.5 million, Sunni Islam, practiced by around 92% of the population, is the dominant religion in Jordan. It coexists with an indigenous Christian minority, Jordan is considered to be among the safest of Arab countries in the Middle East, and has avoided long-term terrorism and instability. The kingdom is also a refuge to thousands of Iraqi Christians fleeing the Islamic State, while Jordan continues to accept refugees, the recent large influx from Syria placed substantial strain on national resources and infrastructure. Jordan is classified as a country of high human development with a middle income economy. The Jordanian economy, one of the smallest economies in the region, is attractive to foreign investors based upon a skilled workforce, the country is a major tourist destination, and also attracts medical tourism due to its well developed health sector. Nonetheless, a lack of resources, large flow of refugees. Jordan is named after the Jordan River, where Jesus is said to have been baptized, the origin of the rivers name is debated, but the most common explanation is that it derives from the word yarad, found in Hebrew, Aramaic, and other Semitic languages. Others regard the name as having an Indo-Aryan origin, combining the words yor and don, another theory is that it is from the Arabic root word wrd, as in people coming to a major source of water. The name Jordan appears in an ancient Egyptian papyrus called Papyrus Anastasi I, the lands of modern-day Jordan were historically called Transjordan, meaning beyond the Jordan River. The name was Arabized into Al-Urdunn during the Muslim conquest of the Levant, during crusader rule, it was called Oultrejordain

24.
Ein Rafa
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Ein Rafa is an Israeli Arab village ten kilometers west of Jerusalem, Israel. Located on the side of Route 1 to Abu Ghosh. In 2015 it had a population of 1,138, Ein Rafa was founded in the 1940s when the Barhom family moved from the nearby village of Suba into the valley. It expanded after 1948 when several families left Suba and settled there. Most of the residents of the village are descended from the Barhom family, in 2007, there was controversy when one home built without a permit was demolished in the village. Arab localities in Israel Arab-Israeli peace projects Population displacements in Israel after 1948 Media related to Ein Rafa at Wikimedia Commons

25.
Harel Brigade
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Harel Brigade is a reserve brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, today part of the Northern Command. It played a role in the 1948 Palestine war. The Harel Brigade was established on 16 April 1948 as a division of the Palmach and it was composed of three battalions,1,400 men, which had fought in Operation Nachshon in the Jerusalem area. Therefore, its name Harel is taken from mount Zion in Jerusalem and this infantry unit was headed by Yitzhak Rabin, who was appointed its first commander. During the early phase of the 1948 Palestine War, the Palmach units became tactical combat units, in April 1948, the Harel brigade was formed to command all units in the Jerusalem corridor and hills. To train and organize troops in the framework of the army-in-the-making, upon its establishment, the brigade commenced with Operation Harel, a direct continuation of Operation Nachshon, between 16 and 21 April 1948. On April 22, the brigade was assigned to Operation Yevusi with the goal of taking control of the ridges overlooking Jerusalem. During this operation the brigade sustained thirty-three killed in the battle for Nebi Samuel, in Operation Maccabi during the first half of May 1948, the Harel Brigade took control of the Jerusalem corridor and opened the road until Shaar Hagai. On 17–19 May, a Harel force took Mount Zion and entered the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, later the brigade took part in Operation Danny, Operation Horev, and Operation Ha-Har. The Palmach memorial website records 274 of its members dying while fighting with the Harel Brigade, thirty-four were killed at Nabi Samuel and eighteen in Katamon. During the Suez Crisis in 1956, the brigade fought as a brigade commanded by Shmuel Gudar. In 1959, the brigade was made into a unit of the Armored Corps. During the Six-Day War, the Harel Brigade used Sherman tanks in fighting at Radar Hill, north of Jerusalem, in 2014, the Brigade became part of the Sinai Division and it participated in Operation Protective Edge. List of battles and operations in the 1948 Palestine war

26.
Ulpan
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An ulpan is an institute or school for the intensive study of Hebrew. Ulpan is a Hebrew word meaning studio, teaching, or instruction, the ulpan is designed to teach adult immigrants to Israel the basic language skills of conversation, writing and comprehension. Most ulpanim also provide instruction in the fundamentals of Israeli culture, history, the primary purpose of the ulpan is to help new citizens to be integrated as quickly and as easily as possible into the social, cultural and economic life of their new country. The concept of the ulpan was initiated soon after the creation of Israel in 1948 and their language and culture varied widely. The ulpan was created to help them learn the Hebrew language, Ulpan Etzion in Jerusalems Baka neighborhood was established in 1949 by Mordechai Kamerat as a model for Hebrew language education used across Israel. It was a facility for single olim between the ages 21 and 35 holding a bachelors degree. Staff and students said that the atmosphere of the campus, its central location, one of Ulpan Etzions notable alumni was Israeli satirist Ephraim Kishon. News anchor Haim Yavin taught there, the institution of the ulpan continues to serve immigrants today. There are numerous private facilities but the majority are run by the Jewish Agency, municipalities, kibbutzim, ulpanim used to be free to new immigrants to Israel. Nowadays the cost can vary depending on the type and length of the course, since the establishment of the first ulpan in Jerusalem in 1949, more than 1.3 million new immigrants have graduated from ulpanim. The ulpan framework has been adopted by other nations attempting to revive their own declining or lost languages, Wales, Scotland, and Norway have used the ulpan model for native language instruction. Certain language courses in Wales and Scotland have even retained the name ulpan, the Sami people of Norway sent a delegation to Israel in 2012 in order to experience Israels ulpan program and apply its methods toward the preservation of its own threatened linguistic heritage. A number of kibbutzim across Israel also offer ulpan courses, the course typically lasts 5 months and the Ulpanists will usually work part-time on the kibbutz in addition to their studies. Participants have the option of choosing kibbutz ulpan programs either on religious kibbutzim in the Religious Kibbutz Movement, the situation amongst the Russian immigrant population is even more dire with seventy percent of immigrants not being able to understand the Hebrew television news. As a result of study, the Knesset has set up an inter-ministerial committee to study the situation and make recommendations to improve. Several alternative teaching systems are being considered for use in the ulpan framework

27.
Tzora
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Tzora is a kibbutz in central Israel. Located about 20 km from Jerusalem, near the city of Beit Shemesh, in 2015 it had a population of 906. The kibbutz is named for the village of Tzora, which may have been a Canaanite town. The name was taken from the Biblical Book of Judges, And the spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol, the kibbutz was founded in December 1948 by former Palmach members. In the 1980s a ham radio club operated under the call 4Z4YJ, in the early 2000s, Tzora underwent a privatization of its communal living structure, with a community tax levied on income and the residual retained as income by members. In April 2008, the kibbutz was fully privatized, a ritual bath dating back to the Second Temple Period was discovered near Tzora kibbutz during an archaeological excavation conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority in 2011. One of the branches of the kibbutz economy was Tzora Furniture Ltd. which began in 1957 as a metal factory. At first, the company produced bicycles, but in 1974 it began to manufacture office chairs, however, the factory burned down in July 2007. In 1993, Tzora opened the first kibbutz winery, Tzora Vineyards, more recently, Tzora is now home to the Teperberg Winery. Tzora operates a dairy in partnership with Tzova and Netiv HaLamed-Heh, Tzora Active Systems produce advanced lightweight wheelchairs. There is also a wedding hall, built of tents. These tents, produced in Tzora are now used throughout Israel for weddings

28.
John the Baptist
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John the Baptist, also known as John the Baptizer, was a Jewish itinerant preacher in the early first century AD. John is revered as a religious figure in Christianity, Islam, the Baháí Faith. He is called a prophet by all of these traditions, and is honoured as a saint in many Christian traditions, John used baptism as the central symbol or sacrament of his messianic movement. Most scholars agree that John baptized Jesus, scholars generally believe Jesus was a follower or disciple of John and several New Testament accounts report that some of Jesus early followers had previously been followers of John. John the Baptist is also mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus, according to the New Testament, John anticipated a messianic figure greater than himself. Christians commonly refer to John as the precursor or forerunner of Jesus, John is also identified with the prophet Elijah. John the Baptist is mentioned in all four canonical Gospels and the non-canonical Gospel of the Nazarenes, the Synoptic Gospels describe John baptising Jesus, in the Gospel of John it is implied in John 1, 32-34. The Gospel of Mark introduces John as a fulfilment of a prophecy from the Book of Isaiah about a messenger being sent ahead, John is described as wearing clothes of camels hair, living on locusts and wild honey. John proclaims baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin, and says another will come after him who will not baptize with water, Jesus comes to John, and is baptized by him in the river Jordan. The account describes how, as he emerges from the water, the heavens open, a voice from heaven then says, You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased. Later in the gospel there is an account of Johns death and it is introduced by an incident where the Tetrarch Herod Antipas, hearing stories about Jesus, imagines that this is John the Baptist raised from the dead. It then explains that John had rebuked Herod for marrying Herodias, Herodias demands his execution, but Herod, who liked to listen to John, is reluctant to do so because he fears him, knowing he is a righteous and holy man. The account then describes how Herods daughter Herodias dances before Herod, when the girl asks her mother what she should request, she is told to demand the head of John the Baptist. Reluctantly, Herod orders the beheading of John, and his head is delivered to her, at her request, Johns disciples take the body away and bury it in a tomb. There are a number of difficulties with this passage, the Gospel wrongly identifies Antipas as King and the ex-husband of Herodias is named as Philip, but he is known to have been called Herod. Although the wording clearly implies the girl was the daughter of Herodias, many texts describe her as Herods daughter, Herodias. Since these texts are early and significant and the reading is difficult, many see this as the original version, corrected in later versions and in Matthew. Josephus says that Herodias had a daughter by the name of Salome, scholars have speculated about the origins of the story

29.
Ein Karem
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Ein Karem is an ancient village of the Jerusalem District and now a neighbourhood in southwest Jerusalem and the site of the Hadassah Medical Center. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on July 16,1948, according to Christian tradition, John the Baptist was born in Ein Karem, leading to the establishment of many churches and monasteries. In 2010 the neighborhood had a population of 2,000 and it attracts three million visitors a year, one-third of them pilgrims from around the world. A spring that water to the village of Ein Karem stimulated settlement there from an early time. Pottery has been found dating to the Middle Bronze Age. For the Israelite age it could be identified as the location of Beth HaKerem, a reservoir here was mentioned in the copper scroll. It was recorded during the Islamic conquest and again, under the name St. Jeehan de Bois, Ottoman tax registers from 1596 showed a population of 29 Muslim families. During excavations in Ein Karem, a statue of Aphrodite was found. It is believed to date from the Roman era and was toppled in Byzantine times. Today, the statue is at the Rockefeller Museum, according to the Bible, Mary went into the hill country, to a city of Judah when she visited her cousin Elizabeth, the wife of Zechariah. Theodosius says that the distance is five miles from Jerusalem to the place where Elizabeth lived, the mother of John the Baptist. The English writer Saewulf, on pilgrimage to Palestine in 1102-1103, wrote of a monastery in the area of Ein Karim dedicated to St. Sabas, the site of the crusader church was purchased by Father Thomas of Novara in 1621. In 1672 the Franciscan order received a firman from the Ottoman sultan, in 1693 the monastery was renovated and walls added. The population of Ain Karim in 1922 was 1,735, in 1931 it was 2,637, in 555 houses and in 1944/45 it was 3,180, in each case including the smaller localities of Ayn al-Rawwas and Ayn al-Khandaq. The 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine placed Ayn Karim in the Jerusalem enclave intended for international control, on March 19, the villagers joined their foreign guests in attacking a Jewish convoy on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road. Immediately after the April 1948 massacre at the village of Deir Yassin. It was attacked by Israeli forces during the campaign of July 1948. The remaining civilian inhabitants fled on July 10–11, during its last days, Ayn Karim suffered from severe food shortages

30.
Battle for Jerusalem
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The Battle for Jerusalem occurred from December 1947 to 18 July 1948, during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. The Jewish and Arab populations of Mandatory Palestine and later the Israeli, under the UN Partition Plan, Jerusalem was to be placed under international rule in a corpus separatum. Fighting nevertheless immediately broke out in the city between Jewish and Arab militias, with bombings and attacks by both sides, starting in February 1948, Arab militia under Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni blockaded the road from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, preventing the supply of the Jewish population. This blockade was broken in mid-April by Operation Nachshon and Operation Maccabee, on 14 May and the following days, Etzioni and Harel brigades supported by Irgun troops launched several operations aiming to take over the Arab side of the city. Israeli victories against the Arab militias in the city pushed Abdallah of Jordan to order the Arab Legion to intervene and it deployed in East Jerusalem, fought the Israelis and took the Jewish quarter of the Old City. The population was expelled and the fighters taken prisoners to Jordan, the Israeli forces launched three assaults on Latrun to free the road to the city but without success. Israeli forces built a road to Jerusalem before the truce imposed by UN on 11 June. During the period called the First Truce the Jewish city was supplied with food, ammunition, weapons, fighting didnt resume during the remaining months of the 1948 war. The city was split between Israel and Jordan after the war, Israel ruling West Jerusalem and Jordan ruling East Jerusalem with the Old City, following the outbreak of disturbances at the end of 1947 the road between Tel Aviv and Jewish Jerusalem became increasingly difficult for Jewish vehicles. Ambushes by Palestinian Arab irregulars became more frequent and more sophisticated, aside from the large Jewish population, Jerusalem held special importance to the Yishuv for religious and nationalist reasons. In particular, the Arab forces tried to cut off the road to Jerusalem from the coastal plain, the Arabs blocked access to Jerusalem at Latrun and Bab al-Wad, a narrow valley surrounded by Arab villages on hills on both sides. The breaking of the siege of Jerusalem and the annexation of the areas to the Jewish state became primary goals for the Israelis in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. In December 1947 the Jewish Agency set up the Jerusalem Emergency Committee, headed by Dov Yosef, in January the Committee estimated 4,500 tons a month was needed. They were given 50,000 Palestine pounds credit with the Histadruts wholesalers, in January 1948 the number of trucks supplying Jewish Jerusalem had fallen to thirty per day. By March the daily number of trucks reaching Jerusalem was six. By the end of March it was clear that food supplies for civilians in Jewish Jerusalem would run out, on 1 April The Times estimated that the Jewish population of Jerusalem required a minimum of 50 truckloads per week. On 3 April, The Scotsman reported that a spokesman at a meeting of Arab military leaders in Damascus had announced that Jerusalem would be strangled by a blockade. One estimate of the size of the forces at the beginning of March 1948 gives the Arabs 5,300 men in Jerusalem and surrounding district

31.
Benny Morris
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Benny Morris is an Israeli historian. He is a professor of history in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Beersheba, Israel. He is a key member of the group of Israeli historians known as the New Historians, Morriss work on the Arab–Israeli conflict and especially the Israeli–Palestinian conflict has won praise and criticism from both sides of the political divide. He is accused by academics in Israel of only using Israeli and never Arab sources. Regarding himself as a Zionist, he writes, I embarked upon the research not out of commitment or political interest. I simply wanted to know what happened, Morris was born on 8 December 1948 in kibbutz Ein HaHoresh, the son of Jewish immigrants from the United Kingdom. He was born to Yaakov Morris, an Israeli diplomat, historian, and poet and Sadie Morris, according to The New Yorker, Benny Morris grew up in the heart of a left-wing pioneering atmosphere. His parents moved to Jerusalem when Morris was a year old, in the wake of his fathers diplomatic duties, the family spent four years in New York when Morris was nine, and another two years there when he was 15. Morris served in infantry, including in the paratroops, during 1967-1969 and he was wounded in 1969 by an Egyptian shell at the Suez Canal, and was released from the army four months later. He completed his studies in history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During the 2015–2016 academic year, Morris served as the Goldman Visiting Israeli Professor in Georgetown Universitys Department of Government and he lives in moshav Srigim and is married with three children. After graduation from the University of Cambridge he returned to Jerusalem, in 1982, he covered the Lebanon War, and also served as a reservist, taking part in the siege of Beirut in a mortar unit. In 1986, he did duty in the West Bank. In 1988, when his unit was called up for reserve duty in Nablus, he refused to serve. Mainstream Israeli historiography at the time explained the 1948 Palestinian exodus from their towns and villages as having been driven by fear, Morris found evidence that there had been expulsions in some cases. And there is a connection between the two, critics allege that Morriss first book is biased. Morris believes they failed to read his book with moral detachment, assuming that when he described Israeli actions as cruel or as atrocities, in fact, he supports Israeli actions during 1948 such as the uprooting of 700,000 Palestinians. In a 2004 interview in Haaretz with Ari Shavit he stated, therefore it was necessary to uproot them

32.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker

33.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing

34.
Institute for Palestine Studies
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The Institute for Palestine Studies is the oldest independent nonprofit public service research institute in the Arab world. It was established and incorporated in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1963 and has served as a model for other such institutes in the region. It is the institute in the world solely concerned with analyzing and documenting Palestinian affairs. IPSs Library in Beirut is the largest in the Arab world specializing in Palestinian affairs, the Arab–Israeli conflict and it is led by a Board of Trustees comprising some forty scholars, businessmen, and public figures representing almost all Arab countries. The Institute currently maintains offices in Beirut, Paris, Washington and it is independent of government, party, or political organization. IPS activities are financed by income from its endowment, contributions and gifts from donors, the project is online and users can access the legislation as well as the Congressional record from which it is drawn through the Congressional Monitor Database. Tips on using the database as well as a guide to the U. S. legislative process are provided. The Institutes library is located at the Institutess headquarters in Beirut and it is also interested in studying and promoting knowledge of Hebrew. The Institute publishes three quarterly journals in English and Arabic and these are independently edited and published from Washington, Paris, Jerusalem, and Beirut respectively. The journals are, The Journal of Palestine Studies, which was established in 1971 and it is published and distributed by the University of California Press on behalf of the institute. The current editor is Rashid Khalidi of Columbia University, the French quarterly, Revue détudes palestiniennes, which began publication in 1982, was independently edited and produced by The Institute for Palestine Studies – Paris. The Revue was printed and distributed by Editions de Minuit, the Arabic language quarterly, Majallat al-Dirasat al-Filastiniyah, was founded in 1990. It is edited in London and Beirut and is reprinted in Ramallah in the West Bank for distribution in the Palestinian Territories. Elias Khoury, renowned Lebanese author is the Editor of the Majallat al-Dirasat al-Filastiniyah, the Jerusalem Quarterly was conceived in 1998 as the Jerusalem Quarterly File, and is published by the Institute of Jerusalem Studies, an affiliate of the Institute for Palestine Studies. Jerusalem Quarterly publishes historical features and contemporary analysis of aspects of city life, the journal is available quarterly online, and in print copy through paid subscription. It has also published over 600 books and it has published many first-person Palestinian accounts of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The Institute is led by a Board of Trustees composed of Arab scholars, businessmen, a volunteer executive committee, elected by the Board, manage the regular activities. The trustees come from most Arab countries, including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, education in the Palestinian territories List of Palestinian universities Official website Journal of Palestine Studies

35.
Crusades
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The First Crusade arose after a call to arms in a 1095 sermon by Pope Urban II. Urban urged military support for the Byzantine Empire and its Emperor, Alexios I, the response to Urbans preaching by people of many different classes across Western Europe established the precedent for later Crusades. Volunteers became Crusaders by taking a vow and receiving plenary indulgences from the church. Some were hoping for apotheosis at Jerusalem, or forgiveness from God for all their sins, others participated to satisfy feudal obligations, gain glory and honour, or find opportunities for economic and political gain. Many modern Historians have polarised opinions of the Crusaders behaviour under Papal sanction, to some it was incongruous with the stated aims and implied moral authority of the papacy and the Crusades, to the extent that on occasions that the Pope excommunicated Crusaders. Crusaders often pillaged as they travelled, while their leaders retained control of captured territory rather than returning it to the Byzantines. During the Peoples Crusade thousands of Jews were murdered in what is now called the Rhineland massacres, Constantinople was sacked during the Fourth Crusade rendering the reunification of Christendom impossible. These tales consequently galvanised medieval romance, philosophy and literature, but the Crusades also reinforced the connection between Western Christendom, feudalism, and militarism. Crusade is not a term, instead the terms iter for journey or peregrinatio for pilgrimage were used. Not until the word crucesignatus for one who was signed with the cross was adopted at the close of the century was specific terminology developed. The Middle English equivalents were derived from old French, croiserie in the 13th–15th centuries, croisade appeared in English c1575, and continued to be the leading form till c1760. By convention historians adopt the term for the Christian holy wars from 1095, the Crusades in the Holy Land are traditionally counted as nine distinct campaigns, numbered from the First Crusade of 1095–99 to the Ninth Crusade of 1271/2. Usage of the term Crusade may differ depending on the author, pluralists use the term Crusade of any campaign explicitly sanctioned by the reigning Pope. This reflects the view of the Roman Catholic Church that every military campaign given Papal sanction is equally valid as a Crusade, regardless of its cause, justification, generalists see Crusades as any and all holy wars connected with the Latin Church and fought in defence of their faith. Popularists limit the Crusades to only those that were characterised by popular groundswells of religious fervour – that is, only the First Crusade, Medieval Muslim historiographers such as Ali ibn al-Athir refer to the Crusades as the Frankish Wars. The term used in modern Arabic, ḥamalāt ṣalībiyya حملات صليبية, campaigns of the cross, is a loan translation of the term Crusade as used in Western historiography. The Islamic prophet Muhammad founded Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, the resulting unified polity in the seventh and eighth centuries led to a rapid expansion of Arab power. This influence stretched from the northwest Indian subcontinent, across Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, southern Italy, tolerance, trade, and political relationships between the Arabs and the Christian states of Europe waxed and waned

36.
Benedictine monastery in Abu Ghosh
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The Benedictine monastery in Abu Ghosh, named St Mary of the Resurrection Abbey, is a monastery run by the Olivetan Benedictine order. The Crusaders assumed for a while that the village, which they called Fontenoid, the late Romanesque/early Gothic-style church was built by the Hospitallers in 1140. It was acquired by the French government in 1899 and placed under guardianship of the French Benedictine Fathers. Edward Robinson described it as “obviously from the time of the crusades, the church is built over an ancient spring. From 1956, the monastery was run by the Lazarist Fathers, today a double monastery of nuns and priests worship in the church and offer hospitality, commemorating the Old Testament story of the couple on the Jerusalem–Emmaus road. Official website Video of the History and presentation of the community in Abu Gosh

37.
Az-Zeeb
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For the Israeli national park see Achziv. For the self-proclaimed micronation see Akhzivland, Az-Zeeb, was a Palestinian Arab village located 13.5 kilometers north of Acre on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Mentioned in the Bible by its ancient name Achzib, evidence of settlement at the site dates back to the 18th century BCE. By the 10th century BCE, it was a prosperous and fortified Phoenician town, conquered by the Assyrian empire in the 8th century BCE, it was subsequently ruled by the Persians. During the rule of the Roman Empire, it was known as Ecdippa, Arab geographers were referring to it as az-Zeeb by the early Middle Ages. In 1146 the Crusaders established there a settlement protected by a castle and named Casale Huberti or Casal Humberti, there are descriptions of the castle and village by Arab chroniclers in the 12th and 13th centuries, just prior to and during the rule of the Mamluks in the region. The Arab name of the village was az-Zeeb, incorporated into the Ottoman empire in the early 16th century, by its end it formed part of the subdistrict of Akka. Its inhabitants cultivated various crops and raised livestock on which they paid taxes to the Ottoman authorities, at the time of the British Mandate in Palestine, most of the families in az-Zeeb made their living from fishing and agriculture, particularly fruit cultivation. Just before the end to Mandate rule on May 14,1948. The town was depopulated and razed to the ground, the Israeli localities of Saar and Gesher HaZiv were established on the village lands in 1948 and 1949. A domed mosque from the village has since restored and serves as a tourist site. The Arabic name of the village, az-Zeeb is a form of the sites original ancient Canaanite/Phoenician name. Human settlement at the dates to as early as the 18th century BCE. A tell in az-Zeeb excavated between 1941–44 and 1959-1964 found evidence of settlement from the Middle Bronze Age II, through the Roman period, positioned on a passage between the plain of Acre and the city of Tyre, Achzib was an important road station. Between the 10th and 6th centuries BCE, it was a town, with public buildings and tombs with Phoenician inscriptions. Also mentioned in the writings of Pseudo-Scylax, the site likely regained some importance in Hellenistic times, during the Roman period, the imperial authorities called it Ecdippa. At the end of the Roman era, a workshop was located here. By the Early Middle Ages, Arab geographers were referring to the area as az-Zeeb, with the arrival of the Crusaders and after the fall of Acre in 1104, Casal Imbertia or Lambertie was established there

38.
Kingdom of Jerusalem
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The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem was a crusader state established in the Southern Levant by Godfrey of Bouillon in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, the sometimes so-called First Kingdom of Jerusalem lasted from 1099 to 1187, when it was almost entirely overrun by Saladin. This second kingdom is called the Second Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Kingdom of Acre. Three other crusader states founded during and after the First Crusade were located north, the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch. While all three were independent, they were tied to Jerusalem. Beyond these to the north and west lay the states of Armenian Cilicia, further east, various Muslim emirates were located which were ultimately allied with the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad. Jerusalem itself fell to Saladin in 1187, and in the 13th century the kingdom was reduced to a few cities along the Mediterranean coast. In this period, the kingdom was ruled by the Lusignan dynasty of the Kingdom of Cyprus, dynastic ties also strengthened with Tripoli, Antioch, and Armenia. The kingdom was soon dominated by the Italian city-states of Venice and Genoa. Emperor Frederick II claimed the kingdom by marriage, but his presence sparked a war among the kingdoms nobility. The kingdom became more than a pawn in the politics and warfare of the Ayyubid and Mamluk dynasties in Egypt, as well as the Khwarezmian. The Mamluk sultans Baibars and al-Ashraf Khalil eventually reconquered all the remaining crusader strongholds, the kingdom was ethnically, religiously, and linguistically diverse, although the crusaders themselves and their descendants were an elite Catholic minority. They imported many customs and institutions from their homelands in Western Europe, the kingdom also inherited oriental qualities, influenced by the pre-existing customs and populations. The majority of the inhabitants were native Christians, especially Greek and Syrian Orthodox, as well as Sunni. The native Christians and Muslims, who were a lower class, tended to speak Greek and Arabic, while the crusaders spoke French. There were also a number of Jews and Samaritans. According to the Jewish writer Benjamin of Tudela, who travelled through the kingdom around 1170, since sets a lower bound for the Samaritan population at 1,500, since the contemporary Tolidah, a Samaritan chronicle, also mentions communities in Gaza and Acre. The First Crusade was preached at the Council of Clermont in 1095 by Pope Urban II, however, the main objective quickly became the control of the Holy Land

39.
Acre, Israel
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Acre is a city in the northern coastal plain region of the Northern District, Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. The city occupies an important location, as it sits on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, traditionally linking the waterways and this location helped it become one of the oldest cities in the world, continuously inhabited since the Middle Bronze Age some 4000 years ago. Acre is the holiest city of the Baháí Faith, and as such receives many Bahai pilgrims, in 2015 the population was 47,675. Acre is a city, that includes Jews, Muslims, Christians. The mayor is Shimon Lankri, who was reelected in 2011, Acres etymology is a matter of controversy, though most likely deriving from the early Canaanite language. According to Biblical tradition, the name is derived from Canaanite Adco, meaning a border, the city was known as Ptolemais during the Hellenistic and Roman-Byzantine periods. During the Crusades it was known as St. John dAcre after the Knights Hospitaller, Acre is therefore counted among the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the region. Egyptian sources seem to be mentioning Acre, starting possibly with execration texts from ca.1800 BCE, the name Aak, which appears on the tribute lists of Thutmose III, may be a reference to Acre. The Amarna letters also mention a place named Akka, as well as the Execration texts, First settlement at the site of Ancient Acre appears to have been in the Early Bronze Age, or about 3000 BC. In the Hebrew Bible, Akko is one of the places from which the Israelites did not drive out the Canaanites and it is later described in the territory of the tribe of Asher and according to Josephus, was ruled by one of Solomons provincial governors. Throughout Israelite rule, it was politically and culturally affiliated with Phoenicia, around 725 BC, Akko joined Sidon and Tyre in a revolt against Shalmaneser V. Greek historians refer to the city as Ake, meaning cure, according to the Greek myth, Heracles found curative herbs here to heal his wounds. Strabo refers to the city as once a rendezvous for the Persians in their expeditions against Egypt, about 165 BC Judas Maccabeus defeated the Seleucids in several battles in Galilee, and drove them into Ptolemais. About 153 BC Alexander Balas, son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, contesting the Seleucid crown with Demetrius, seized the city, which opened its gates to him. Demetrius offered many bribes to the Maccabees to obtain Jewish support against his rival, including the revenues of Ptolemais for the benefit of the Temple in Jerusalem, Jonathan Apphus threw in his lot with Alexander and in 150 BC he was received by him with great honour in Ptolemais. Some years later, however, Tryphon, an officer of the Seleucid Empire, the city was captured by Alexander Jannaeus, Cleopatra and Tigranes the Great. Here Herod the Great built a gymnasium, the Christian Acts of the Apostles reports that Luke the Evangelist, Paul the Apostle and their companions spent a day in Ptolemais with the Christian brethren there. A Roman colonia was established at the city, Colonia Claudii Cæsaris, the Romans enlarged the port and the city, that flourished for six centuries even as a Christian center

40.
Apollonia-Arsuf
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For the modern community, see Arsuf, Hof HaSharon. Apollonia was an ancient city in Hellenistic and Roman Judea, in the late Roman era renamed to Sozusa and it was situated on a cliff above the Mediterranean Sea, about 34 kilometres south of Caesarea. It fell to the Muslim conquest in 640 and was fortified against Byzantine attacks and it was re-conquered by the kingdom of Jerusalem in 1101, and was a strategically important fortress in the Third Crusade, during which the Battle of Arsuf was fought nearby. The fortress fell to the Mamluks in 1265 and was destroyed, the site of Arsuf is now in Herzliya municipality, Israel. The site was excavated from 1994. In 2002, the site was named Apollonia National Park, the city is first recorded under its Greek name Apollonia in the final decades of the Persian period. The Semitic name ršp would then have been restored in the medieval Arabic toponym of Arsūf, the Saramitan chronicle of Abu l-Fath record a toponym rʿšfyn. Izre’el considers the possibility of identifying this toponym with the Arabic Arsūf, a tradition connecting the name with the biblical Resheph, a grandson of Ephraim, is spurious. The name of the nearby Israeli settlement of Rishpon was given in 1936, the renaming is paralleled in at least three other cities called Apollonia, Sozusa in Cyrenaica, Sozopolis in Pisidia and Sozopolis in Thrace. The identification of ancient Apollonia with Byzantine-era Sozusa is due to Stark, the site is variously referred to as Appolonia, Arsin, Arsuf, Arsuph, Arsur, Arsuth, Assur, Orsuf and Sozusa in Crusader-era documents. Although some Chalcolithic and Iron Age remains were uncovered at the site and it is mentioned in the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax. During the Hellenistic period it was a town, ruled by Seleucids. Under Roman rule, the town prospered and grew into the commercial and industrial centre of the region between the Poleg and Yarkon rivers. In AD113, Apollonia was destroyed partially by an earthquake, Apollonia is mentioned by Pliny, Hist. nat. V,14, and Ptolemy, V, xv,2, XIII, xv,4, Appianus, Hist. rom. The Roman proconsul, Gabinius, found it ruined in 57 BC, Apollonia is depicted in the Tabula Peutingeriana, on the coastal highway between Joppa and Caesarea, at the distance of 22 miles from Caesarea, confirming the identification of Arsuf with Apollonia. There was no coin minting in Apollonia, confirming that the town did not have the role of a Roman provincial center but was considered a medium-sized coastal town like Jamnia. Sozusa in Palaestina was the name of the city in the late Roman province of Palaestina Prima, and its see was a suffragan of Caesarea

41.
Ashkelon
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Ashkelon is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast,50 kilometres south of Tel Aviv, and 13 kilometres north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age, the Arab village of al-Majdal or al-Majdal Asqalan, was established a few kilometres inland from the ancient site by the late 15th century, under Ottoman rule. In 1918, it part of the British Occupied Enemy Territory Administration. Al-Majdal on the eve of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War had 10,000 Arab inhabitants and in October 1948, al-Majdal was the forward position of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force based in Gaza. The town was initially named Migdal Gaza, Migdal Gad and Migdal Ashkelon by the new Jewish inhabitants, most of the remaining Arabs were evicted by 1950. In 1953, the neighborhood of Afridar was incorporated and the name Ashkelon was readopted to the town. By 1961, Ashkelon was ranked 18th among Israeli urban centers with a population of 24,000, in 2015 the population of Ashkelon was 130,660. The name Ashkelon is probably western Semitic, and might be connected to the root š-q-l perhaps attesting to its importance as a center for mercantile activities, scallion and shallot are derived from Ascalonia, the Latin name for Ashkelon. Ashkelon was the oldest and largest seaport in Canaan, one of the five cities of the Philistines, north of Gaza, the Neolithic site of Ashkelon is located on the Mediterranean coast,1.5 km north of Tel Ashkelon. It is dated by Radiocarbon dating to ca.7900 bp and it was discovered and excavated in 1954 by French archaeologist Jean Perrot. In 1997–1998, a large scale salvage project was conducted at the site by Yosef Garfinkel on behalf of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a final excavation report was published in 2008. In the site over a hundred fireplaces and hearths were found and numerous pits, various phases of occupation were found, one atop the other, with sterile layers of sea sand between them. This indicates that the site was occupied on a seasonal basis, the main finds were enormous quantities of animal bones and 20,000 flint artifacts. Usually at Neolithic sites flints far outnumber animal bones, the bones belong to domesticated and non-domesticated animals. When all aspects of this site are taken into account, it appears to have used by pastoral nomads for meat processing. The nearby sea could supply necessary for the conservation of meat. The city was built on a sandstone outcropping and has a good underground water supply. It was relatively large as an ancient city with as many as 15,000 people living inside the walls, Ashkelon was a thriving Middle Bronze Age city of more than 150 acres

42.
Battle of Jacob's Ford
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The Battle of Jacobs Ford was a victory of the Muslim sultan Saladin over the Christian King of Jerusalem, Baldwin IV. Jacobs Ford is also known by the Latin name of Vadum Iacob, many scholars believe that Saladins reconquest of the Holy Land and Jerusalem in 1187 was heralded by this earlier victory. Saladin, one of the most famous Islamic rulers, was Sultan of Egypt and, by 1174, after seizing power in Syria, Saladin vowed to forge an Islamic empire around Jerusalem. Naturally, the end goal was to recapture the Holy City from the Crusaders, however, such a plan would take the Holy Land without major military conflict. Baldwin IV took control over the Kingdom of Jerusalem at the age of thirteen after the death of his father Amalric I in 1174, Baldwin was a staunch believer in Christianity and, as a result, Saladin’s biggest problem to overcome. Although Baldwin was a rich and powerful leader, he was stricken with leprosy at a young age. After approximately three years on the throne at Jerusalem, Baldwin was faced with his very first military challenge, Saladin invaded the Christian kingdom in approximately 1177 to rout the Crusaders. Although Saladin was almost twenty years older and more experienced than Baldwin, Baldwin and his Crusaders outwitted the Muslims at Mont Gisard on 25 November 1177. By the end of the battle, Saladin was forced to back to Egypt after narrowly escaping death. Although the victory resulted in losses for Baldwin’s armies, his image throughout the kingdom gained in strength. In fact, some Christians in the Near East had even come to believe that miracle of his victory appear as a sign of divine mandate. Jacob’s Ford is approximately one hundred miles north of Jerusalem at the Jordan River and was a key river crossing on one of the roads between Acre and Damascus. In the twelfth century, Baldwin and Saladin continually contested over the area on which Jacobs Ford was situated. As a bold move and as a result of his military victory at Mont Gisard, Baldwin decided to march to Jacob’s Ford. The king and his Crusaders theorized that such a fortification could protect Jerusalem from a northern invasion, between October 1178 and April 1179, Baldwin began the first stages of constructing his new line of defense, a fortification called Chastellet at Jacob’s Ford. While construction was in progress, Saladin became fully aware of the task he would have to overcome at Jacob’s Ford if he were to protect Syria and conquer Jerusalem. At the time, he was unable to stop the erection of Chastellet by military force because a portion of his troops were stationed in northern Syria. Consequently, the sultan turned to bribery and offered Baldwin 60,000 dinars to halt construction, Baldwin declined, but Saladin made a counter-offer of 100,000 dinars

43.
Yazur
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Yazur was a Palestinian Arab town located 6 kilometers east of Jaffa. Mentioned in 7th century BCE Assyrian texts, the village was a site of contestation between Muslims and Crusaders in the 12th-13th centuries, during the Fatimid period in Palestine, a number of important people were born in Yazur. In modern times the town was the birthplace of Ahmed Jibril, the Israeli town of Azor now stands on the former town lands of Yazur, which was depopulated and mostly destroyed during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. The village is mentioned in the annals of the Assyrian ruler Sennacherib as Azuro, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries CE, Muslim and Crusader forces fought for control of the village and it changed hands several times, before finally falling under the control of the Mamluks. In 1586, the Maqam Imam ´Ali in Yazur was seen by Zuallart, across the road there is a well or cistern. In 1596, Yazur was a village in the nahiya of Ramla, villagers paid taxes to the authorities for the crops that they cultivated, which included wheat, barley, fruit, and sesame as well as on other types of property, such as goats and beehives. In 1602, Seusenius described the Maqam Imam ´Ali as a mosque with nine cupolas the one in the middle being the highest, while still under the rule of the Ottoman Empire in 1870, Charles Netter from Alliance Israélite Universelle founded the Mikveh Israel southeast of Jaffa. Through a firman of the sultan, he received land for the school which then had been worked by the fellahin of the village of Yazur. The peasants therefore became bitter enemies of the school farm, in the late summer of 1870, the governor of Damascus visited Jaffa. The Pasha, riding on the side, asked Ernst for his riding crop. The Wali accepted a petition handed him by a shaykh, incidentally, modern Yazur was divided into four quarters, one for each of four clans that lived there. The houses were made of stone or adobe brick and straw and were built in groups called ahwash, each house in such a group opened onto a common courtyard that had a single entrance, often an arched gate. The village had two schools, one for boys and another for girls. The boys´school occupied 27 dunums and had its own artesian well, in 1947,430 boys and 160 girls were registered in these schools. The remains of an old Crusader church built by Richard the Lionheart in 1191, called Castel des Plaines, were visible on a hill inside the village. The Crusader church had been rebuilt to serve as Yazurs mosque. According to a census conducted in 1931 by the British Mandate authorities, Yazur had a population of 2,337 inhabitants in,419 houses. According to a 1945 census conducted by the Mandatory authorities in Palestine, Yazur had a population of 4,030, agriculture constituted the backbone of the economy, in 1944, citrus was planted on 6,272 dunums and 1,441 dunums were allocated to cereals. Agriculture was both rainfed and irrigated,1,689 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, during World War II, the villagers also started raising Holstein cows, and by 1947 numerous artesian wells were being used for irrigation

44.
Bayt 'Itab
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Bayt ʿIṭāb was a Palestinian Arab village located in the Jerusalem Subdistrict. The village is believed to have inhabited since biblical times. An ancient tunnel which led to the spring is associated with story of Samson. Prior to, during, and after its incorporation into Crusader fiefdoms in the 12th century, sheikhs from the Lahham family clan, who were associated with the Qays tribo-political faction, ruled the village during Ottoman era. In the 19th century, this clan controlled 24 villages in the vicinity, the homes were built of stone. The local farmers cultivated cereals, fruit trees and olive groves, after a military assault on Bayt ʿIṭāb by Israeli forces in October 1948, the village was depopulated and demolished. Many of the villagers had fled to camps in the West Bank less than 20 kilometres from the village. In 1950, an Israeli moshav, Nes Harim, was established north of the built up portion of Bayt Itab, Bayt ʿIṭāb is identified with Enadab, a name that appears in a list of Palestinian towns compiled by Eusebius in the fourth century CE. The building had two stories, both vaulted, the floor entrance was protected by a slit-machicolation and had stairs leading to the basement. Nonetheless, his wife was forced to sell his landholdings after he was prisoner by Islamic forces in 1161. It was then acquired by and made a fief of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Arabic name of the village appears in Latin transliteration as Bethaatap in a list recording the sale of the land holdings belonging to Gothman in 1161. Edward Robinson visited the village in 1838, and described its stone houses, in the center of the village were the ruins of a castle or tower. Robinson estimates, the population was six to seven hundred people. He notes that Beit Atab, as he transcribes it, was the town of the Arkub district. Robinson recounts that he was a man from the Lahaam clan. Rising to greet them, he invited them to stay for the night, but as they were in a hurry to see more of the country before the setting of the sun, in the mid-19th century, the sheikh of Bayt Itab was named Utham al-Lahham. He had been exiled in 1846, but had managed to escape, a supporter of the Qays faction, Lahham was in conflict with the Yamani faction leaders, especially the sheikh of Abu Ghosh. In the 1850s the conflict between two families over the control of the district of Bani Hasan dominated the area

45.
Bayt Jibrin
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The village had a total land area of 56,185 dunams or 56.1 km2, of which 0.28 km2 were built-up while the rest remained farmland. During the 8th century BCE, the village was part of the Kingdom of Judah, during the days of Jewish king Herod the town was the administrative center for the district of Idumea. After the turmoil of the First Jewish-Roman War and the Bar Kokhba revolt the town became a thriving Roman colony, in the early 7th century CE, Bayt Jibrin was conquered by Muslim forces led by Amr ibn al-As. Under the Crusaders in the 12th century, it was known as Beth Gibelin and it fell to the Mamluks and then the Ottoman Turks. In the 19th century, the family took control of Bayt Jibrin and unsuccessfully attempted to rebel against the Ottomans, ending in the exile. Under the British Mandate of Palestine, Bayt Jibrin again served as a center for surrounding villages. It was captured by Israeli forces during the 1948 War, causing its inhabitants to flee eastward, today, many of the refugees of Bayt Jibrin and their descendants live in the Bayt Jibrin and Fawwar camps in the southern West Bank. The kibbutz of Beit Guvrin was established on Bayt Jibrins lands in 1949, the underground caves of Bayt Jibrin have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town was renamed over the centuries and its Aramaic name Beth Gabra, preserved by the geographer Ptolemy in the Greek variation of Βαιτογάβρα, translates as the house of the man or house of the mighty one. The antecedent might be seen in the name of an Edomite king, Ḳaus-gabri or Kauš-Gabr, the Romans gave it a Greek name, Eleutheropolis, meaning City of the Free. In the Peutinger Tables in 393 CE, Bayt Jibrin was called Beitogabri, in the Talmud, compiled between the 3rd and 4th centuries, it was known as Beit Gubrin. To the Crusaders, it was known as Bethgibelin or Gibelin, another name in medieval times may have been Beit Jibril, meaning house of Gabriel. In Arabic, Bayt Jibrin or Jubrin means house of the powerful, and the town was probably called Bayt Jibrin or Beit Jibril throughout its rule by various Muslim dynasties. The excavations have revealed no remains older than the Iron Age and this corresponds to several Hebrew Bible mentions of Maresha. However, local folklore tells that the former Arab village of Bayt Jibrin was first inhabited by Canaanites, after the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE, the city of Maresha became part of the Edomite kingdom. In the late Persian period a Sidonian community settled in Maresha, during the Maccabean Revolt, Maresha was a base for attacks against Judea and suffered retaliation from the Maccabees. In 40 BCE, the Parthians devastated completely the strong city, after this date, nearby Beit Guvrin succeeded Maresha as the chief center of the area. In the Jewish War, Vespasian slaughtered or enslaved the inhabitants of Betaris, however, it continued to be a Jewish-inhabited city until the Bar Kokhba revolt

46.
Beit She'an
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It has also played an important role in modern times, acting as the regional center of the villages in the Beit Shean Valley. The ancient city ruins are now protected within a national park, a large cemetery on the northern Mound was in use from the Bronze Age to Byzantine times. Canaanite graves dating from 2000 to 1600 BCE were discovered there in 1926, after the Egyptian conquest of Beit Shean by pharaoh Thutmose III in the 15th century BCE, the small town on the summit of the Mound became the center of the Egyptian administration of the region. The Egyptian newcomers changed the organization of the town and left a great deal of material culture behind, artifacts of potential cultic significance were found around the temple. Based on a found in the temple, inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphs. University Museums most important finds near the temple is the Lion and Dog stela, the Hebrew University excavations determined that this temple was built on the site of an earlier one. During the three hundred years of Egyptian rule, the population of Beit She’an appears to have been primarily Egyptian administrative officials, the town was completely rebuilt, following a new layout, during the 19th dynasty. The University Museum excavations uncovered two important stelae from the period of Seti I and a monument of Rameses II, Pottery was produced locally, but some was made to mimic Egyptian forms. Other Canaanite goods existed alongside Egyptian imports, or locally made Egyptian-style objects, the 20th dynasty saw the construction of large administrative buildings in Beit Shean, including Building 1500, a small palace for the Egyptian governor. During the 20th dynasty, invasions of the Sea Peoples upset Egypts control over the Eastern Mediterranean, though the exact circumstances are unclear, the entire site of Beit Shean was destroyed by fire around 1150 BCE. The Egyptians did not attempt to rebuild their administrative center and finally lost control of the region, an Iron Age I Canaanite city was constructed on the site of the Egyptian center shortly after its destruction. Around 1100 BC, Canaanite Beit Shean was conquered by the Philistines, during a subsequent battle against the Jewish King Saul at nearby Mount Gilboa in 1004 BC, the Philistines prevailed. 1 Samuel 31,10 states that the victorious Philistines hung the body of King Saul on the walls of Beit Shean, portions of these walls were excavated on the Mound recently. The Assyrian conquest of northern Israel under Tiglath-Pileser III brought about the destruction of Beit Shean by fire, minimal reoccupation occurred until the Hellenistic period. The Hellenistic period saw the reoccupation of the site of Beit Shean under the new name Scythopolis, little is known about the Hellenistic city, but during the 3rd century BCE a large temple was constructed on the Tell. It is unknown which deity was worshipped there, but the continued to be used during Roman times. Graves dating from the Hellenistic period are simple, singular rock-cut tombs, in 198 BCE the Seleucids finally conquered the region. The town played a role after the Hasmonean-Maccabeean Revolt, Josephus records that the Jewish High Priest Jonathan was killed there by Demetrius II Nicator, the city was destroyed by fire at the end of the 2nd century BCE